[Rule by Intimidation/Limited Liability = Terrorism] White Boulder Cop who Unlawfully Stopped & Made Felony Threat to Black Man Picking Up Trash Outside His Dorm Quits Job & Cuts Deal for $69K
/Terrorism Theater, Full Video Released. From [HERE] A white Colorado police officer who pulled out his gun during a confrontation with a black man picking up trash around his dormitory resigned this week under an agreement that lets him collect $69,000 in salary despite violating department policies.
Police body camera footage released Thursday provided a full video account of the tense encounter, which had gained national attention based on video shot by someone inside a student dormitory at Naropa University, a liberal arts school associated with Buddhism in the city of Boulder.
City officials said the investigation could not prove that the officer, John Smyly, acted because of Zayd Atkinson's race. [Investigators were looking for proof of racial animus -something that is rare because racism is carried out primarily through deception & tangible evidence of an individual's thought process only exists under egregious or random circumstances. The fake search for tangible evidence from the mind of a bigoted decision maker ignores white supremacy as an operating system of oppression and is done only for show in the lex-icon. The fake search for racial animus presumes a post-racial environment. Fake due process without the right to secure a different outcome].
Smyly violated two department policies: police authority and public trust and conduct, the city attorney said. The report released with the video said Smyly had no authority to detain Atkinson or probable cause to charge him with any crime and should have left once Atkinson provided his name, address and his reason for being there.
"Boulder is essentially saying we're going to pay this officer and let him resign for threatening Zayd's life, for racially profiling Zayd," said Atkinson's attorney, Siddhartha Rathod. "If you or I were to do this, we would be criminally charged. We would immediately lose our jobs."
Smyly approached Atkinson on March 1 in front of the condo-style building, where he was using a metal tool with a mechanism at its base to grab & place trash into a bucket. Smyly said he noticed Atkinson on the rear patio and wanted to see if he lived or worked there - for no particular reason. [That is, the white cop was suspicious because he saw a Black man outside a college dorm.]
Atkinson said he did, and Smyly asked for identification with the address on it. Atkinson provided his school ID, which did not have an address and then offered to let himself into the building as proof.
Smyly asked for Atkinson's date of birth. Atkinson refused, then picked up the bucket and tool and walked away.
"Put that down," Smyly said on the tape. "Stop!"
He then told Atkinson that he was obstructing a police officer, "a jailable offense." Smyly later told Atkinson that he was being detained for trespassing.
Smyly drew his stun gun and followed Atkinson to the back of the building, repeatedly ordering him to sit down on the ground and put the "weapon" down, referring to the trash tool. Atkinson repeatedly said he had not done anything wrong.
"Your hand is on your weapon and you're gonna shoot me," Atkinson surprisingly shouted. "That's what you're gonna do, officer? You're gonna shoot a resident on his property for picking up trash?"
Smyly drew his gun when the two men reached the back of the building, an investigative summary said. At no time did the Black man pose any threat or make any threatening movements or statements as he stood at least 20 - 30 feet from him.
{It appeared the white cop-artist was creating a narrative for the body camera audience; making statements similar to “don’t make me have fear for my safety” or “stop resisting” in order to justify a violent confrontation with the Black man. He insisted to the Black man multiple times that the trash stick tool indeed was a weapon. As explained by Pastor Jedediah Brown ‘police have learned what to say when they want to get away with excessive force and malicious policing.’]
After about eight minutes, more white officers arrive and surround Atkinson.
One officer can be seen holding a rifle; the investigative summary says the weapon fires bean bags [something you would not know if it was pointed at you]. One officer drew his handgun when he arrived but reholstered it in less than a minute, while Smyly had his gun out until Atkinson put the trash-grabbing tool down, according to the summary.
Atkinson, 26, said he has had trouble sleeping and spends time outdoors or with friends to calm him. "My life right now is kind of restless, unsettled," he said.
City Attorney Tom Carr said firing Smyly would have led to a drawn-out appeal and potentially allowed him to keep his job.
Under the agreement, Smyly resigned his police role on May 9 but will remain an employee through February without performing any work. He will receive "commensurate pay and benefits" during that period and "a single, lump sum" payment for any accrued and unused vacation time when his employment officially ends Feb. 9.
Carr said the resignation agreement "allowed the city to provide the community information more quickly, and it transitioned Officer Smyly out of a law enforcement career." The city's bargaining agreement with police officers requires an appeal for any disciplinary action and could have allowed Smyly to return to duty, he added.
